RADIO BROADCASTING.

Otago Witness, Issue 3823, 21 June 1927, Page 69

RADIO BROADCASTING.

AN INFORMAL CONFERENCE. WELLINGTON, June 17. The executive of the Wellington Amateur Radio Society, and two of the directors o r thp Radio Broadcasting Comnnnv of New Zealand met yesterday in an informal conference. It was uigi»d on behau ol the listeners that the new high power Wellington station, 2YK, should operate on a wave length not longer than 300 metres, to minimise the amount of blanketing that would be inevitable by the use of such a powerful transmitter. m r r„ r ,., t .-intof, that the onus of fixing the wave lengths rested upon the officials oi the Post and Telegraph Department. He admitted that the new 2YK transmitter was. constructed so as to operate efficiently oh 300 metres. A :; pr°P°s a l that a trained musician be appointed ■ in each centre to select talent and to manage the programmes was favourably.. received. Another matter discussed was the inadvisability of inserting “talk” items between the hours of 8 and 10 p.m. Speakers for the society considered 1 that the musical entertainment was brief enough without reducing the number of items by talks. The intervals in'the evening programmes were also condemned, and Mr Harris agreed that these were not always necessary -Tho subject of fading and distortion by ;Lcfih' 3YA. Christchurch, and IYA, AucliIfilidj-'' '-was introduced.”- Mr' Harris stated iin- reply,, that at both the Auckland and

Christchurch stations the company’s engineers had failed to detect sufficient fluctuation in the power actually put into the transmitter to account for any fading owing to the system of power supply. Fluctuations in the current could have scarcely the slightest effect on the transmission. The society’s speakers urged the advisability of the appointment of an experienced broadcast technician to supervise all stations. The Broadcasting Company has appointed Mr L. Slade (Christchurch) as superintendent of stations, and he will co-ordinate the operations of the four stations, and bring them up to their maximum'efficiency. His _ duties will also include the representing of the company at the deliberations cf listeners’ leagues, radio societies, and similar organisations. In fact, Mr Slade will be a sort of liaison officer with the idea of establishing a mutual bond between listeners and the company. GOVERNMENT CONTROL SOUGHT. AUCKLAND, June 17. A circular issued by the Auckland Listeners-in League says: “As far as the league can ascertain there is a universal desire for direct Government control, and it solicits support to secure immediate Government control of broadcasting iii New Zealand. The league feels that the present company could never regain public confidence by re-organisation, or other methods. Under Government control licenses would iii<ease rapidly and broadcasting would ba no financial burden on the State.”